Control for accordions



March 14, 1939. R. FAIRBAIRN CONTROL FOR ACCORDIONS Filed April 11, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet l Inward-or R..:.Fairhalrn i? March 14, 1939. R. FAIRBAIRN CONTROL FOR ACCORDIONS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 11, 1938 Patented Mar. 14, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTROL FOR ACCORDIONS Application April 11, 1938, Serial No. 201,392

6 Claims.

The invention relates to controls for accordions and more particularly to that class of controls for opening or shutting off groups of reeds for variations in the tone of the instrument. The

better class of accordions are generally equipped with means for controlling groups of reeds either on the treble or bass sides but heretofore, these controls have always been located on the same side as the reeds which are controlled. Accordingly, to shut off or turn on any controlled group of bass reeds, the left hand of the player must be employed and very few players can accomplish the change without a noticeable break in the music due to interference with the finger movements.

Obviously, a bass control on the treble side would alleviate this trouble but the difficulty of accomplishing this arrangement is due to the fact that the interior space of the accordion is taken up by the arrangements and spacing of the banks of reeds permitting very little room for the control to pass across. Further, the bellows must be permitted wide flexibility of shape in its movement and therefore, a flexible control, which will conform to these movements, must be provided and then, if any exterior object, such as a con,- trol, were to contact the reeds, the tonal qualities would be impaired.

The principal objects of the present invention are to provide a control on the treble. side of an accordion to control groups of reeds on the bass side thereof or vice versa, and to provide aconnection across the interior of the accordion for the purpose which will not interfere with the flexibility of the bellows thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for preventing the above mentioned connection from contacting the reeds or reed blocks in the operation of the accordion.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a device in a simple, cheap and durable manner and such, that it can be attached to any type of finger or hand control to open or close any desired group of reeds on, the opposite side of the accordion.

With the above important objects in View which will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists essentially in the arrangement and constructionv of parts,

0 hereinafter more particularly described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure l is a perspective view of an accordion showing the control, including the flexible connection, in dotted outline.

Figure 2 is an enlarged horizontal sectional View through the accordion and taken on the dot and dash line 2-2, Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a partial vertical cross-section taken on the line 33, Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a face View of the interior side of the bass head of the accordion and showing the flexible connection attachment.

Figure 5 is a vertical section taken on the line- 55, Figure 4. 10

Figure 6 is a partial face view taken at the rear of the accordion finger board and showing the operating construction of the control.

In the drawings, like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several fig- 1 ures.

An accordion is shown in Figure 1 presenting a rectangular shaped treble head I, a similar shaped base head 2, connected by a flexible tubular member 3 formed from a rectangular shaped 20 series of pleats 4. The treble head is provided with an outward extending finger or keyboard 5 having a plurality of white and black keys 6 and l for the operation of the treble reeds located on that side of the accordion. The bass head is 25 provided with a plurality of rows of buttons 8 for the operation of the bass reeds on the bass side of the accordion. When not in use, the accordion is maintained closed by straps 9 connecting the treble and bass heads.

The flexible tubular member 3 is fastened, at either end, to rectangular shaped frames 10 and H which are received by and fastened to the interior sides of the treble and bass heads- I and 2, forming a chamber or bellows 12 of variable 35 size. The side of the treble head, interior of the bellows, is provided with four reed blocks l3, l4, I5 and I6 which are positioned and fastened lengthwise thereof, are spaced apart and project outward therefrom, while the interior face of 0 the bass head is provided with two similar reed blocks I1 and I8 which project within the tubular member 3. All the reed blocks are provided, on either side, with air passages l9, closed by reversed pairs of reeds 20. A further bank of reeds are indicated at 2| on the interior face of the bass head.

When the keys 6 and I or the buttons 8 are pressed, valves (not shown) open and permit air to pass inv or out of the bellows past reeds on the said reed blocks and the tones of these reeds correspond to the positions of the keys or buttons pressed. The various mechanisms connecting the keys or buttons to the reed valves are not 55 shown as they form no part and are not pertinent to the present invention.

Three tone controls 22, 23 and 24 are indicated in Figure 1 at the back of the keyboard, each comprising an L shaped plate 25 having one edge bent at right angles to parallel the edges of the keys and to be pressed by the palm of the right hand. The other side tapers to a short flat edge which is caught by a tension spring 26 for returning the plate to its normal position. A flat bar 21 is welded or suitably fastened to the under side of the plate, is sunk into a corresponding channel in the back of the keyboard for reciprocating purposes and passes under a triangular shaped plate 28 which is fastened to the back of the keyboard. A T shaped crank 29 is pivoted to the plate 28 and a pair of pitmans 30 and 3| are pivoted to the short arms of the T. The ends of these pitmans are stepped as at 32 to form fingers 33 which slide past the sides of a short standard 34 projecting from the flat bar 21 while a spring 35 passes around a pin 36 on the plate 28 and the ends press against pins 37 on the pitmans to hold said pitmans to the short standard 34. The pitmans operate such that when the T shaped crank is at either end of its movement one or other of the pitman steps will be directly behind and in position for contact with the short standard 34.

When the L shaped plate is pressed by the palm of the hand, the short standard will contact the step and move the pitman back causing the crank 29 to rotate and the other pitman to move in the opposite direction. Upon the pressure being released, the spring 26 will return the L shaped plate and the last mentioned pitman will move sideways to bring its step behind the standard 34, ready for the reverse movement to take place when the plate is again pressed. A cover plate 38 (in dotted outline) prevents the ends of the pitmans escaping from the standard.

The long arm of the T shaped crank 29 is connected to a wire 39, positioned at right angles thereto and which passes into a flexible tube 40. This tube is suitably covered to prevent stretching, passes through the treble head outer wall into the bellows and then loops across to the interior side of the bass head where it is fastened by a strap 4|. It then passes up and through a clip 42 on a plate 43 fastened to the wall of the bass head, then curves over and through two more clips 44 and 45 on the same plate. The wire 39 passes through the flexible tube and leaves it at the clip 45 and is then fastened to a triangular shaped plate 46 which is connected to two sliding flat valve strips 4'! and 48. These valve strips are provided with spaced square holes 49 which are adapted to register with or shut off the air passages IS on one side of the reed blocks I! and I8.

When the T shaped crank 29 is operated, the wire 39 moves in the flexible tube 40 and in turn moves the valve strips 4i and 48 to shut off or open the aforementioned air passages.

It might be mentioned at this time that when one of the buttons, controlling the operation of the reeds in these blocks, is pressed, air passes through four different air passages, one on either side of the reed block I T and one on either side of the reed block IS with the result that four different reeds are operated. When the sliding valve strips shut off the specific air passages mentioned, only two reeds are permitted to sound which gives a different tonal effect to the music being played.

The reed block l3 on the treble head of the accordion is provided on its exterior with a guard rod 50, suitably fastened as by screws at either end to said block. This guard rod approximately parallels the reed block, is covered with a rubber tubing 5! and is positioned to contact the loop of the flexible tube 40 at all positions of the accordion and prevent said loop from coming into contact with any of the reeds on that side of the block 13. The reed block I1 is also provided with a similar guard 52 which projects to the side thereof, is covered with a rubber tubing 53 and prevents the loop of the flexible tube 49 from contacting the reeds on that side of the block. Accordingly, as the accordion is opened and shut, the loop of the flexible tube 40 raises and lowers and the guards prevent reed contact while the air passages mentioned can be opened or closed at the will of the player at any position of the accordion.

While I have shown and mentioned the particular groups of air passages to be shut oif or turned on, and have shown that two valve strips maye be operated by one flexible connection, it will be understood that different arrangements or groupings may be made in this respect, single valve strips may be operated by one flexible tube or several flexible tubes may be employed to open or close different sets of air passages. Further, while I have shown one type of hand control on the keyboard, it will be understood that controls located adjacent the black keys or any other control capable of operating the control wire may be used. I

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In anaccordlon having .a series of reed blocks carried by the respective heads of said accordion and each of said reed blocks having a plurality of reeds operated through valves by keys located on said heads, a flat member slidably operating through one of said reed blocks and having spaced holes therethrough adapted to register with or move out of engagement with air passages to the reeds in the last mentioned reed block, a flexible tubular cable having the ends thereof attached to opposite heads of said .ccordion and the central portion freely swinging down in a loop between said heads and transversely crossing the pleats of a flexible bellows connecting both heads, a control wire passing through said flexible cable, having one end fastened to a manually operable member positioned adjacent to the keys on that side of the accordion and the other end fastened tosaid flat member, said manually operable member adapted to end shift said control wire when operated, guard frames carried by said heads, interior of said bellows, and in a location to contact the swinging cable when the accordion is open or shut to prevent said cable from contacting the reeds of said accordion.

2.111 an accordion having reeds carried by reed blocks on the respective heads of said accordion and said blocks enclosed by a flexible bellow casing formed by pleats and connecting said heads, a flat valve member controlling the air passages to a selected group of reeds on one of said heads, a flexible tubular cable having one end fastened to one of said heads, the central portion dipped in a single loop across the interior of the bellow casing to the opposite head and fastened thereto, said loop passing transversely across the side pleats of said bellows in its passage thereacross, a manually operable mechanism carried on the exterior of one of the heads, connected to and adapted to end shift a control wire passing through said flexible cable,

the other end of said wire, on the opposite head, connected to end shift said flat valve member controlling the air passages of said selected group of reeds carried on said last mentioned head, guards carried by the reed blocks adjacent said looped cable, adapted to intercept said loop as it swings in all operating positions of said accordion and prevent said loop from, contacting the reeds of said reed blocks.

3. In an accordion having reeds carried by the respective heads of said accordion and said reeds enclosed by a flexible bellow casing formed with pleats and connecting said heads, a valve controlling the air to selected groups of reeds on one of said heads, means for operating said valve by a manually operable mechanism on the other of said heads comprising, a flexible tubular cable having one end thereof connected to one head and the other end thereof connected to the opposite head and with the central portion of said cable looped thereacross between the bellow casing and the reed blocks and passing transversely across the pleats of said bellows, a control wire having one end connected to and end shifted by said manual mechanism, said wire passing through said flexible cable and the other end adapted to be connected to and to end shift said valve controlling the air passages to said selected group of reeds, and guard means carried interior of said bellows by said heads and at an angle to said cable for preventing contact of said flexible cable with the accordion reeds in the operation of said accordion.

4. In an accordion having a series of reed blocks carried by the respective heads of said accordion, said heads connected by a pleated bellow casing and each of said reed blocks having a plurality of reeds, valve operated by keys located on said heads, a flat valve member slidably operable through one of said reed blocks and having spaced holes therethrough adapted to move out of engagement or register with air passages to the reeds in the last mentioned reed block, a flexible tubular cable attached by the ends to opposite heads and the central portion freely swinging down in a loop between said heads and passing transversely across and normally contacting the pleats of said bellows, a control wire slidably passing through said flexible cable, one end fastened to said flat valve member and the other end fastened to an operable member positioned adjacent the keys on that side of the accordion, said last mentioned operable member adapted to end shift said control wire when manually operated guards carried by the reed blocks adjacent said looped cable and adapted to intercept said loop in its swinging movement toward said reeds in the various operating positions of the accordion and prevent said loop from contacting same.

5. In an accordion having a series of reed blocks carried by the respective heads of said accordion, said heads connected by a pleated bellow casing and each of said reed blocks having a plurality of reeds, valve operated by keys located on said heads, a flat valve member slidably operable through one of said reed blocks and having spaced holes therethrough adapted to move out of engagement or register with air passages to the reeds in the last mentioned reed block, a flexible tubular cable attached by the ends to opposite heads and the central portion freely swinging down in a loop between said heads and passing transversely across and normally contacting the pleats of said bellows, a control wire slidably passing through said flexible cable, one end fastened to said flat valve member and the other end fastened to an operable member positioned adjacent the keys on that side of the accordion, said last mentioned operable member adapted to end shift said control wire when manually operated, a pair of guard rods carried by the reed blocks, one located on the treble head and one on the bass head of said accordion adjacent said looped cable and at an angle thereto, said rods adapted to intercept said loop in its swinging movement towards said reeds in the various operating positions of the accordion and prevent said loop from contacting same.

6. In an accordion having a series of reed blocks carried by the respective heads: of said accordion, said heads connected by a pleated bellow casing and said reed blocks having a plurality of reeds operated through valves by keys located on said heads, a valve for controlling the air to selected groups of reeds on the bass head of said accordion, means for operating said valve by a manually operable mechanism adjacent said keys on the treble head of said accordion comprising, a flexible tubular cable having the ends thereof attached to opposite heads of said accordion and the central portion freely swinging down in a single loop between said heads, passing transversely across and normally contacting the pleats of said bellows, a control wire having one end connected to and end shifted by said manually operable mechanism, said wire passing through said flexible cable and the other end adapted to be connected to and end shift said valve controlling the air passages to said selected groups of reeds, a pair of guard rods carried by the reed blocks, one located on the treble head and one on the bass head of said accordion adjacent said looped cable, at an angle thereto and adapted to intercept said loop in its swinging movement toward said reeds as the accordion is operated and prevent said loop from contacting said reeds.

ROBERT LAIDLAW FAIRBAIRN. 

